• additive manufacturing
• compliant mechanisms
• gripper
• hydraulic transmission

This thesis deals with the design of a gripper based on a compliant mechanism and driven by a hydrostatic actuator. The actuator is a rolling diaphragm type hydraulic cylinder used in robotics and is designed to solve the problems of hydrostatic friction and leakage found in conventional fluid power systems. In addition, the use of compliant mechanisms instead of conventional hinge structures reduces the complexity of assembly/maintenance and costs, and increases transmission efficiency.

The first part of the report describes the background and motivation for the project, and reviews the relevant literature on mechanical grippers. Additionally, this section illustrates the actuator used in the mechanical gripper and the compliant mechanism. The second part mainly analyzes the compliant mechanism, providing a theoretical basis for the design and experiments that follow. The third part introduces the kinematic design of the gripper modeled as a rigid linkage system. The fourth part focuses on the design of a compliant mechanisms gripper that is based on the previously studied kinematics, followed by the realization of a prototype of the gripper. The fifth part illustrates a set of experiments that aim at demonstrating and characterizing the prototype of the gripper. In the sixth section, conclusions are given, and the improvement aspects and future development possibilities of the gripper are discussed.